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Rainfall Data

Fitzweather records rainfall data to the company CoCoRaHS. The following is a short description of CoCoRaHS from their website:

CoCoRaHS is an acronym for the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network. CoCoRaHS is a unique, non-profit, community-based network of volunteers of all ages and backgrounds working together to measure and map precipitation (rain, hail and snow). By using low-cost measurement tools, stressing training and education, and utilizing an interactive Web-site, our aim is to provide the highest quality data for natural resource, education and research applications. We are now in all fifty states. Each time a rain, hail or snow storm crosses your area, volunteers take measurements of precipitation from as many locations as possible (see equipment). These precipitation reports are then recorded on our website www.cocorahs.org. The data are then displayed and organized for many of our end users to analyze and apply to daily situations ranging from water resource analysis and severe storm warnings to neighbors comparing how much rain fell in their backyards.

Fitzweather began recording daily precipitation for CoCoRaHS on April 25th, 2017. The rainfall gauge is located just a few miles northeast of Charleston. Fitzweather’s CoCoRaHS I.D. is WV-KN-27.

Here are a couple of photos showing the setup for Fitzweather’s CoCoRaHS rain gauge. The rain gauge sits pretty close to the ground for ease of recording, as well as maintaining the gauge. However, it is free of any tree coverage lines or power lines that might interfere with rainfall accumulation.